If numbers are to be believed, the Indian radio industry is far from dying a low-key death.

According to PMAR , radio industry has grown by 14% in 2018 to become a Rs 2,150 crore market and has maintained its share of the total advertising pie at 3.5%. In terms of absolute numbers, Radio advertising has grown by Rs 270 crore.

For the year 2019, the industry is expected to grow by another 12%, taking the total Radio Advertising market to Rs 2,400 crore.

On the occasion of World Radio Day, The Radio Festival (TRF) was hosted by UNESCO in partnership with Seeking Modern Applications for Real Transformation, SMART, a not- for -profit on Wednesday (February13th 2019).

Launched by Archana Kapoor, founder of SMART and Radio Mewat, the event was aimed at bringing together the Public, Private and community radio synergise for a vibrant space.

Talking about the event and growth of the radio industry over the years, Asheesh Chatterjee, Chief Financial Officer, Bigfm, expressed the need of such events today to widen the reach and possibilities of growth for the radio industry.

“I think this is a good forum where one can understand the power of radio. The fact is that radio can reach to the masses and we are equalizer in terms of information and entertainment. We try to empower our listeners with ideas as to what new is happening. I think radio format has completely evolved in terms of music and entertainment. Even advertising is moving more towards media messaging solution. If we talk about content, there are multiple formats including mythology, drama and humor. In totality, I would say there’s a lot which is happening on the radio front. I think community radio and private radio goes together and are the back-bone of one of the oldest and traditional mediums of entertainment”, added Asheesh.

Discussing about the credibility and power of radio medium and such events, Sanjoy Majumdar, Deputy Managing Editor, BBC World Service, India, said, “First of all, it’s very important to have such events to keep happening because it keeps reminding us what an incredible medium radio is. Such events help in bringing together different private players and public broadcasters and the government. It therefore becomes a great opportunity for us to sit together, get our views exchanged and also get a sense of what the way forward is.”

Sharing thoughts on the need to expand Radio festivals across regions, Nisha Narayanan, COO & Director, RED FM & Magic FM, added, “I am really happy that because of such events we get the opportunity to bring along the community radio players, campus radio, AIR and commercial fm together in one room. I think the radio festival needs to travel to the different markets since everything is just concentrated on the markets like Delhi and Mumbai, but there’s a lot of radio that actually happens outside these markets and I think that’s where the festival needs to travel also.”

Talking more about the radio industry, Anju Nigam Js, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, said, “This event in particular was a wonderful opportunity to meet all people involved with the radio business. This event brought out some important points and some of the strategies which people have to follow.”